The Remarkable John the Baptist

Well, I'm excited to get into God's Word with you today. The title of our message is, The Remarkable John the Baptist. The Remarkable John the Baptist. And I invite you to open your Bibles. And let's turn together to Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3. As we continue in our series in the Gospel of Luke, we're going to begin here in Luke 3 and we'll read verses 1 through 9 to establish our study today. And our hope today is that we get to know John the Baptist a little bit better today. Now, I have to tell you, while a very familiar individual, he is certainly a remarkable individual. Absolutely remarkable. This is what we're going to see today.

Luke 3. Let's read this together. Verses 1 through 9. Luke records. Now, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch of Ituria in the region of Trachanias, Lisanius Tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the Word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

And he, John, went into all the region around Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path, make his path straight.

Every valley shall be filled, in every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Verse 7, Then he, John, said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Let's stop there, but you'll notice after this striking opening here, the people are moved to ask a question there in verse 10.

The question, what shall we do then? And we know we have effectively proclaimed the gospel when we stir men and women to to ask that very question. And certainly we're going to endeavor to ask and answer that question today. But here we have it. This is the moment. John the Baptist, as it were, stepping onto the stage of human history, thus bringing to pass Isaiah's prophecy, fulfilling God's promises in him.

This is a remarkable moment. He is a remarkable individual. And the remarkable nature of his life, we notice, is seen in just about every recording that Luke gives of him. And it began very early. For example, if you turn back in your Bible, just a couple of chapters here to chapter 1 of Luke, I want to remind you of the remarkable drama which has marked John's life up to this point. It began early because the drama that marked John's birth is here in chapter 1 in verse 13, where his birth was remarkable in that John's father, Zacharias, was given a prophecy of his birth by an angel.

That's chapter 1 in verse 13. It says chapter 1 verse 13, but the angel said to him, that's John's father, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John. So stop there. So that's remarkable. As you read the narrative here, we're told that then Zacharias is struck mute. He's not able to speak primarily because John's father did not receive, in other words, he did not believe the word which was given this prophetic birth announcement from the angel. One of the reasons why Zacharias didn't immediately receive this is because Zacharias and John's mother Elizabeth were both well advanced in age.

We read about that here staying in chapter 1 in verses 17 through 20. The angel speaking here. This is the angel speaking. Verse 17. He, John, speaking of John, will also go before him, that's Jesus, in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the father to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. This was the announcement by the angel of this future son. Verse 18 and Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this?

For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years. And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute to not able to speak until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. Let's stop there. So that's dramatic. Because of his initial disbelief, John's father lost his voice during Elizabeth's pregnancy. And the narrative continues with the dramatic recovery of the father's voice on the day that John the Baptist is circumcised.

And when his voice is restored, it is on that day that Zacharias gave his son the name John as instructed by the angel. And then out of this drama, moving down to verse 66 of chapter 1 here, Luke records the fact, verse 66, that all those who heard them, these things, these remarkable things, all those who heard them, kept them in their heart, saying, what kind of child will this be?

So we have this sense of awe that pervaded Jerusalem. All the surrounding parts of the hill country of Judea, surrounding the birth of John, surrounding the birth here, what kind of child will John be, they asked. And then Luke provides in the final part of verse 66, this remarkable statement, second half of verse 66, and the hand of the Lord was with him. So the hand of the Lord was going to be with John. So he was remarkable in his birth. He was actually remarkable in his lifestyle as he grows.

With the final verse of chapter 1 there, speaking of John again, verse 80, Luke records that he, John, he grew and became strong in spirit and was in the desert till the day of his manifestation to Israel. So that brings us back to chapter 3 and verse 2. Chapter 3 verse 2, when the Word of God came to John in the wilderness. So the day of his manifestation to Israel was now imminent. He had lived in the deserts, the wilderness deserts, until it was time for him to appear publicly to Israel, now that the Word of God had come to him.

Now we're not given any additional details as to why he lived in the desert. Some people speculate that because he was born to elderly parents, that perhaps they died early in his youth, perhaps he then gravitated to the particular and peculiar community there in the desert. That's conjecture for sure, but we know that he did live in the desert. And we'd also be remiss not to mention a note that Matthew gives regarding John, in particular to the peculiar clothing and diet, which was also remarkable with John the Baptist.

So if you'll keep your marker here in Luke 3, we're going to come back to it several times. Let's turn over to Matthew 3 and verse 4. So keep your marker there in Luke 3. Turn to Matthew 3 and verse 4, where we're going to see this recording of Matthew describe John's clothing. His clothes were made of camel's hair, a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was that of locusts and wild honey. Look at this. Matthew 3 and verse 4. Matthew records, now John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

How many of you have ever eaten locusts? Anyone? Oh, okay. We have one. Many have eaten wild honey, I would say. As far as the clothing, I can remember my dad at church. He had a camel's hair jacket. How many of you men have had a camel's hair jacket? All right. I remember just rubbing his arm during services. It was just so soft. I don't know if it was in the style of John the Baptist or not, but I think about this leather belt around his waist. You know, John was a little bit quirky, it seems.

I wonder what sorts of things he hung off of that belt. Perhaps he had a vial of honey and maybe a pouch of locusts that he would maybe dip and crunch on from time to time. I don't know. That's where my mind goes. He was remarkable in his birth, remarkable in his lifestyle, but I'll tell you, the most remarkable thing about John was something that Jesus Christ declared of himself. Because Jesus said something of John that Jesus has said of no other individual. Since we're here in Matthew, I want to just show you the remarkable way in which Jesus Christ spoke of this man, John the Baptist.

Staying here in Matthew, turn it forward to Matthew chapter 11 verse 11. If you'll turn there, I want to show you this remarkable statement which Jesus himself makes of John the Baptist. It's found here in Matthew 11 verse 11. Listen to these words. Jesus says, Matthew 11 as surely I say to you, among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist. I'll stop there. So if there were no other basis to which to build this whole notion of the remarkable dimensions of John the Baptist other than verse 11 here, that would be certainly enough.

So just know, just know, here before us is one of the most striking of individuals who's ever appeared on the stage of human history. And in turning back to Luke 3 here, Luke 3, and beginning in back to verse 4, we are coming to a moment in which John rises and he takes his place at this time in history and again he rises as one of the greatest who've ever been born of women.

And he rises remarkably to this prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. Look again here. Luke 3 verses 4 through 6. This was speaking of John the Baptist. Think of these words here. Luke says, let's read this again. This is John, Luke 3 verse 4, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah and the prophet, so Luke is recording Isaiah's words, this is John, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill brought low, the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Stop there. We're gonna come back to that phrase, the rough ways smooth, in just a moment. There's quite a lot of symbolism there. We'll come back to that particular phrase. But again, this is the moment that the Word of God came to John and he went out to all the region around Jordan. The Word of God came, John went, filled being strong in the spirit since birth, filled with God's Word now.

He now became a remarkable preacher. He was remarkable as a preacher. Matthew records that he went out into all of Judea and all the surrounding region of the Jordan came to here to be baptized by John. And here in Luke 3 verse 7, even Luke records that the multitudes, and that's a that word used there for multitudes, it really indicates vast crowds, were coming out to him to be baptized.

Remarkable! Because this was by no stretch of the imagination was this a comfortable place to come. This is the desert wilderness. So John's not preaching in the in the temple in Jerusalem.

Perhaps there would have been some comforts and amenities. This, this is the desert wilderness here. Very unappealing spot. Very hot, very uncomfortable. So here we have, per Jesus, this remarkable man in a remarkable place now drawing the most remarkable crowds. And what about the climate?

Well, Luke in his careful recording in his detail of verse 1, he helps us understand the remarkable climate in which this is taking place. If you look at those details of verse 1, and if you do your homework, you will discover that this was a period of time which could be summarized of a period in history of absolute moral decay and absolute political chaos.

Moral decay, political chaos. If you, in fact, if you read about Tiberius there, for example, and what secular historians say about him, his reign was marked with extreme treachery and cruelty. If you kind of piece it all together, you'll discover the political system here just contained within itself some of the most vile, filth, confusion that there ever has been. And so this is where the era and the time that John the Baptist is rising up to speak.

Moral decay, political chaos. Now, some may come to a study like this and say, why are we even studying John the Baptist? Yeah, what does he have to do with anything? He was so far back. You know, how does that relate to anything in the 21st century?

Well, again, God raises up a voice at a time of moral decay and political chaos. So do you think he has a word to give to us today? I think so. Into the darkness, God calls one to be a light, to be witness to a light, in fact. We won't turn there, but the Gospel writer John describes John the Baptist. He came to bear witness to the light.

John the Baptist was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of the light. Speaking of Jesus Christ, that's John 1.6 for your notes. John 1.6. So John the Baptist, his remarkable task was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ to shine into the darkness, to cry out into the confusion, to cry out into the moral chaos, and proclaim the Word that had now come to him. He now spoke and stood before soldiers, tax collectors, Sadducees, and Pharisees. I almost said shoulders there. But he had a variety. Everyone came out. Vast crowds here.

Converging this remote desert region to listen to this remarkable message. And just think of the wonder that would have attached itself to this group. They suddenly become quiet, waiting in anticipation at the commencement of this man to speak. And what is the Word that came to John from God to give? What do you think that Word would be? To prepare for the Lord? Well, here it is, verse 7. Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized him, Luke 3, 7, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Stop there. So this is the Word from God to which it was given to John to proclaim. This is quite a remarkable Word, isn't it? I'm sure you would agree. Quite a remarkable introduction. You know, did John's friends at the time, you know, stand up and nudge John and say, what are you doing? You know, just when you have all these crowds coming out, they all came to listen to you, John, and you're gonna open like that.

Are you trying to ruin everything? Couldn't you have given a nicer introduction to your sermon? You know, no preacher seeking to cultivate popularity or to gain quick results begins his sermon by referring to the listeners as you brood of vipers, you know. Good morning, he said to them, you bunch of snakes. Who warned you to come and listen to this teaching today? You know, I thought about opening the message that way, but I thought better of it. That's how it sounded. So you'll notice that remarkably, the word given does not appeal to the felt needs of the people. Rather, he addresses the real need of the people. You know, there are many felt needs that we have, and they need to be addressed. The felt need of, for example, loneliness. The felt need of depression.

Financial health circumstances. All these need to be addressed. They're all legitimate, and the gospel message absolutely does address those felt needs. Absolutely. But you'll notice that John does not first address the felt needs of the people. Rather, he addresses the real need of the people. What was the real need? Well, the real need was that they needed to see their dangerous spiritual condition. Their dangerous spiritual condition that they're in. The best way I could describe this and his message in this remarkable word is that instead of coming with a bucket of paint to begin to paint over the various cracks of their lives, you know, to address loneliness, to address disappointments, to address the failures, fears of the day, rather than coming to paint over those things, rather he comes instead with sandpaper. Sandpaper.

And it's not the fine sandpaper that you see, you know, some carpenters use to finish the job. This sandpaper is that coarse stuff. I don't know if you've ever run your knuckles over some of that coarse sandpaper. It's quite coarse. This is the coarse stuff, you know, that the painter uses at the beginning of the job. He comes to your home and he says, now before I put a drop of paint on that wall, I gotta tell you, I gotta do a lot of prepare work. I gotta do a lot of preparatory work. And you may ask, well, why do you have to do that? He says, you know, I can paint over it. I can do that, but I can tell you it won't last. But in fact, what you need me to do is work carefully to prepare the surface so that it'll be right. If you want the paint to stick to last, to truly adhere, we need to prepare the surface. And I think that's what John the Baptist is doing here. He is, if you like, coming with coarse sandpaper to prepare the surface of the hearts of his listeners, to make the rough smooth. Make the rough smooth so that the proclamation of the good news will stick. Very important how John begins here. Because we may ask, when it comes to the good news, the gospel of the good news, why is it that so often it does not stick with people? Tens, hundreds, thousands of people called by God, perhaps initially respond to the appeals of Jesus Christ, but within a matter of days, weeks, months, years, those who heard it are gone. Why is that? You could be thinking about that. Why is it that many are called but few are chosen? Why is it? Why doesn't the gospel stick? Remember, this is the Word of God which came to John to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. This was the Word to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ.

This is the beginning of the gospel. And again, this is a sandpaper message, isn't it? And John is sent to strike the conscience with such directness. You know, you brood of vipers. It almost takes our breath away. You can only imagine what those gathered there would have said. You know, did he just call us a bunch of snakes? You know. Whoa! He describes them as the offspring, the brood of poisonous snakes. So we can't miss the link between a snake and the devil. That's the point he's making.

Because the serpent came, the devil came, and we read in Genesis 3, it brought man into all kinds of chaos and confusion. So it's important for men and women to attach themselves to that understanding. And actually, it's important for men and women to attach themselves to that lineage. You know, we like to attach ourselves to our lineage. We like to look up our family history, attach ourselves to family roots, and so on.

That's important. It's good. Particularly if it, you know, comes with privilege here. But you'll notice John preempts the people who are about to play the national family card. And he says in the second half of verse 8, second half of verse 8, I know some of you like to say we belong to Abraham.

But he says, I suggest you don't do that because I've actually just referred to you in relation to who you actually belong to. And he's confronted them with the fact of their real lineage. That which is poisonous, evil, it's a destructive lineage.

It's actually our lineage. We can imagine the people in the crowd saying, I have had enough of this. I've had enough of this. I don't like this man. I don't like his clothes. He keeps dipping those locusts and creeping me out, you know. But above all, I don't like his message. And that's what people are saying today. We really don't like to hear from John the Baptist. I'd really like to hear from Jesus Christ. You know, John the Baptist was an ugly individual. Jesus was a nice individual. Well, let's hear from Jesus then. Keep your marker here, if you will, in Luke 3. Let's turn over to John chapter 8 and verse 39.

John chapter 8 and verse 39, because I want to show you that actual fact is, nothing John said was anything that Jesus did not also say. So everything John said, Jesus echoed. Clearly, Jesus said more, but his teaching echoed and underlined the preaching of John the Baptist. And here's one example. John 8 verse 39, they were present. The Jews there were playing the national family card again. John 8 verse 39 through 45. Verse 39, they answered and said to him, Jesus, here it is again, Abraham is our Father.

And so Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God, Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father. And when they said to him, we were not born of fornication, we have one father, God. Verse 42, Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded from and came from God. Nor have I come of myself. But he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech?

Well, it's because you are not able to listen to my word, verse 44. You are of your father, the devil. Wow, Jesus is starting to sound a lot like John the Baptist here, continuing here. You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me.

Stop there. And I believe that's where we are today. Men and women hear the gospel through their Bible, hearing Jesus tell them the truth, and they do not believe him. So what Jesus says in John 8 is what John the Baptist says in Luke 3. If you'd like to turn back to Luke 3, back to Luke 3, you know, why were the messages the same? We could ask that.

Why the same message? Well, it came from the same source. You know, this is the Word of God.

It binds these messages. It binds the whole Bible. And this is the remarkable gospel message. This is where the remarkable, remarkable gospel message begins. How does it begin? Well, Luke 3, verse 7 through 9 again. Here it is. He said to the multitudes, Luke 3 verse 7, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Verse 8, therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So this is the Word of God which came to John. What's the Word? Flee from the coming wrath. I understand your felt needs. I understand your loneliness. I understand your depression. I understand your financial, your health concerns. But I need you first to understand your primary need. Your primary need.

And I need to come to you and address you this morning about the impending nature of your fleeing the wrath to come. You know, we as a church, we can't shy away from this phraseology. Because why is this so important? Why are we taking so much time on this?

Well, I want to tell you why I believe this is important. And we need to listen to this carefully. Because there will be in every group, and perhaps this one, those who in an earlier day decided to take up the offer of simply a religious coat of paint. And they've taken up the message that says, you just need, you simply need us to paint over the cracks of your life a thin veneer of Christianity. In other words, they perhaps have made a superficial response to a call of God, and they've simply received a superficial coat of paint, of spiritual paint. And the sad part is that after a few days, weeks, years, spiritually speaking, they discover the paint has begun to peel. And I don't believe that the many who are called were unmoved. I believe they were moved.

I believe they had a call from God. They felt moved. They felt perhaps a passing regret. They had struck a chord in their life. They said, this is true of me. So stirred, facing regret, filled with emotion. They assimilate some kind of spiritual practices. But as time passed, the reality is the paint never struck, stuck. And we could ask why.

Well, it may be that they were told a message that they were fine.

We hear this message preached today in many of the world's pulpits. They're told, well, there's nothing to worry about. They're told there is no wrath. You don't need to change.

They're told you can enter into the kingdom of God without any self-control, without any display of holiness.

I'm here to tell you that that's not a message that you'll hear today. You can't hear that message.

You mustn't. Rather, you and I must face that which John is addressing here.

It's not necessarily something that we want to hear. It's something we need to hear. It is the sandpaper message. And rather than simply giving them what they want to hear, he takes out the sandpaper and he begins to rub and rub. And he says, here's the deal you brood of vipers.

And you know, we could say initially when this lands on us, wow, what a harsh, unkind, unloving message. Let's ask, is John's message here a harsh, unkind, unloving message?

I'd like you to, before you come to that conclusion, consider the possibility that this is actually a very kind message. And consider the possibility that far from being a harsh, mean individual, John the Baptist, while quirky, was actually a very loving and kind man.

And in fact, in fact, he would have been unkind. He would have been unloving if he would have simply offered them a lousy patch-up paint job. Because if you think about it, would you consider him a loving, kind man if he simply put forth a few quick results to sign up some individuals? All the time knowing when the paint dries, it will peel off in their lives and they will be left off worse than when they began.

What good is a gospel proclamation like that? It's not a loving message.

And, but in fact, John was immensely kind and immensely caring to bring out the sandpaper and begin to rub. So that, so that after showing them their dreadful lineage, so that after showing them their dreadful condition, so that after showing them and allowing them to feel the heat of the fire, so that after preparing the surface of their hearts, he could then say, now let me bring you to the broad strokes of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am here to prepare your hearts so that when his blood is painted over your life, it will never peel. And yes, I'm going to tell you about a consuming fire, but I'm also going to tell you the ability to quench it. And I'm going to lead you to a lamb. And in a moment, in a short moment in time, John's got to point across and says, and say, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away sin from the world. Sin is the very reason as to what brought this wrath of God.

And the good news is, the good news is, you vipers, is that sinners may plunge beneath his blood and escape the wrath to come. You see, the message of Christ coming and his sacrifice, the message of the good news of grace, it really doesn't make sense unless I realize I'm a son of a viper. The message of the gospel of grace, Christ coming and sacrifice himself, it doesn't make any sense unless you realize that you're a son or daughter of a viper. Because if we are that, if I am that, and if my lineage is attached to this fallen world, I deserve judgment. But here's the wonder, here's the remarkable gospel message that I who deserve judgment should on the account of God's grace be given forgiveness through the spilled blood of the Lamb of Jesus Christ. But it's only in understanding our viper's condition, in contrast to the grace that's offered to us, that the gospel will stick.

You know, we sing these hymns every Sabbath, and we cannot sing these hymns without this understanding. I think of the hymn, In Thy Loving Kindness. You know, can we sing in Thy Loving Kindness, and I mean truly sing without this understanding? Against thee, only have I sinned, done evil in Thy sight, that Thou speaking may be just and in judging right. My iniquities blot out, my sin hide from Thy view, and in me a clean heart make, spirit, right, renew. How can we sing that unless we understand this? You know, against thee, only have I sinned, done evil in Thy sight. How remarkable it is that you would make in me a clean heart, and spirit, right, renew. You can't sing that unless you understand this, and you understand why John the Bad just came. So John stands with the Word of God in his lips, and he does not offer some slick, external religious paint job. Rather, in fact, he challenges us to bring the house of our life to Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ to dwell in it, and to paint over with his blood. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we're transformed in such a way that we will then produce fruit of repentance.

That's verse 8. You know, John says, because of all this, you vipers, he says, verse 8, bear fruits worthy of repentance. So this is where the remarkable gospel begins. It begins with sandpaper, and then our need of repentance.

What is repentance? It's an about turn. If I don't understand what I'm turning from, how can I repent? So John the Baptist is letting them know what they're turning from, so that they can have this response to the sandpaper.

It is that we realize that in our lives, we're walking in the wrong direction. We're consumed with our own selfish concerns. John the Baptist's message breaks into our lives. What does it produce? It produces guilt. It produces regret. Should we feel guilty and regretful from John's message, from John's sandpaper? Yeah. I feel guilty of living my own by-persuase.

We feel guilty of failing him in his relationship with him. John's message grips our hearts. We feel guilty. It's supposed to. He rubs the sandpaper onto our hearts. Why?

Because it'll produce the door to forgiveness, the power to turn and escape.

You see, the gospel message does not only take you to the fact that you're from a brood of vipers and leave you there. You know, the gospel message doesn't take you there and leave you there. No. It's the revelation of our condition that produces guilt, which then opens up the discovery of the Good News, which is about to come. And the discovery of this Good News is the best news because it gives us an escape from the coming fire. Jesus Christ is our escape.

So, if you sit here this morning burdened by guilt, broken in your heart, I hope John's message brings you to this question. What am I supposed to do? That is the question. And if John the Baptist were here, he would tell you, repent. Bear fruits worthy of repentance. I don't need to tell you what you need to repent of. That's your personal relationship with God the Father. But the sandpaper message comes. And its power not only lies in its ability to evoke guilt, but its power lies in the fact that the grace then comes to the repentant heart of the man or the woman. It gives you that way of escape.

As you turn to a life that's going to be fuller than you could ever imagine.

And so, here in the words of John the Baptist, this remarkable man with a remarkably strong message, he rises to prepare the way for grace which comes from Jesus Christ. And he rises first with sandpaper to the heart. But then Jesus Christ, he's announcing, will come with the ointment. First, the cry of the guilt-ridden heart and then the cry of our Savior at his crucifixion.

So, in conclusion, may we apply this message to our own hearts. And then may we proclaim this message. You know, we too are to proclaim this. What a message it is.

The axe is now laid at the root of the trees. Every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So, verse 10, it's then and only then that that question comes and rises in the heart of men and women. Here, what shall we do then? What should we tell them?

Repent. Bear fruits worthy of repentance. And then wait. Wait in wonderful anticipation because behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away sin from the world and all of its consequences.

So, turn to him. You know, this is the message of the true gospel and this is the message of the remarkable John the Baptist.